Garment-pressing machine



my si, 1923.

E? MaJ/@fm www my 31, i923.

c. vI AVIER GARMEIN'I PRESSING MACHINE` Filed Aug. 22 1922 2 sheets-sheet 2 I. bottom 2 to the top 2,

Patented July 3l, 1923.

UNIT D ST CHARLES LAVIER, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

GARMENT-PRESSING MACHINE.

application med August 22, i922.' serial no. 583,620.

To all whom t may concern:

Be -it known-that I, CHARLES LAvIER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Garment- Pressing Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in clothes pressing' machines, and has for its ob'ect to provide novel, simple and powerful means for effecting the pressing strokes of a. movable buck towards a stationary presser. head. A further object is to provide a pressing unit comprising an upright h draulic cylinder, having a. concentric c amber in which is disposed a lunger that supports and operates the mova le buck, the said plunger being raised by the displace ment of the fluid contained in said cylinder,

and the said buck and said plunger being lowered after each pressing operation by gravity. And a further object is to provide novel means for regulating the speed at which the buck and plunger may be raised and lowered, as well as for varying the deee of the working pressure of the machine.

I attain these ob]ects by the means set forth in the detailed description which follows, and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a central vertical sect1on,taken on line 1--1 "of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. And Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, taken on line 33 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing, 2 represents an upright cylinder, whichis shown mounted on a liaring base 2', the latter extending below an imperforate bottom 2f.A Concentrically within the main body'2 is formed a smaller upright cylinder 2", which extends from the the top end of the cylinder 2b bein open. The top 2 is shown integral with t e body 2, but 1t may comprise a separate part, in a well-known manner. The arrangement of the cylinders 2 and 2b is such that a clear annular water or fluid chamber 2l surrounds the hoisting cylinder 2b, and these two chambers are connected for the assage of iuld, by means of a by-pass, w ich comprises a duct 2e, a

i e 3, a valve 4, of the lunger type operab e in a cylinder 4', w ich .is tapped by the pipe 3, and by an extension 3' of the said pipe, the latter connecting by means of the said valve is arranged to entirely shut olf, as well as to regulate the flow of the fluid between said chambers, that is to say,

for accelerating or retarding the said flow.

7 represents a reciprocatable plunger or pedestal which operatively fits the bore of the cylinder 2", and is raised and lowered by the alternate displacement of the fluid in the chambers 2d P, and for this purpose the lower end of the plunger 7is normally spaced from the bottom 2, as shown 1n Figs. 1 and 3. At the top of the cylinder 2 is arranged a stuiiing-box comprising. an integral annular part 2X, a`ring 8,`and a circular packing 8', the said parts being adjustably held in place by bolts 8a. Above thev body 2 the plunger passes loosely through a horizontal table 9, and upon its top end is rigidly mounted the lowermost clothes-pressing member 10, which is usually called the buck, the latter being movable vertically with the plunger for eHecting the pressing, as well as the' release strokes of the machine. 12 represents the presser-head, which generally ycorresponds to the buck 10 in size and shape. The head 12 is preferably stationary and is supported some distance above the idle position of the buck (see Fig. 1), by means of a bracket 13, to thel goose-neck top end 13' of which the head is rigidly secured. The lower end of the bracket 13 is preferably rigidly secured to the rear face of the body 2, as best seen in Fig. 3. The buck 10, as well as the head 12, may follow any of the usual constructions, and both of these parts may be charged with steam or other hot vapor for properly heating the same, by means 'of pipes 10' and 12',`which tap the backs of the buck and head.

The fluid w, which is usually water, or may be oil, preferably nearly fills the'annular chamber 2d, as best seen in Fig. 1, and this llevel of the liquid should be maintained as nearly constant as possible, for

'ies

etl'ecting the proper working of the press. To regulate this level of the liquid, l provide a float-controlled valve 14, which is disposed in a small compartment 15, that communicates with the chamber 2, the said compartmentbeing tapped by a Waste or overflow pipe 15. The valve 14: and its float 1d are so arranged that whenever` the level of the liquid a: rises above that shown in Fig. 1, the float is lifted and the valve is unseated, thereby allowing the surplus water to escape or waste through the `pipe 15.

As explained, the raising and lowering1 ot the plunger 7 and the buck 10 is effected by the displacement of the fluid w. To accomplish this, the relatively narrow empty space at the top of the cylinder 2 is charged with either compressed air or steam pressure. This operating pressure is admitted to the chamber 2d through a pipe 1G, in which 'is connected a valve 17, the latter having a handle 17', which when depressed, as from the full to the dotted position shown in Fig. l, opens the valve 17. The charging of the void in the cylinder 2 with this pressure forces the liquid from chamber 2 into the bottom of chamber 2b, and drives the plunger 7 and buck 10 upwardly against the head 12, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, and by the full lines in Fig. 8, for effecting the pressing of garments which may be supported by the buck. This action cf the fluid pressure will be best understood by com paringl Fig. l with Fig. 3. lt' the valve 4 is wide open, when the air or steam is turned on, the plunger and. buck will move upwardly rapidly, since the bypass has a relatively large capacity.' So also, at the end of the pressing operation` after the air valve has been opened for exhausting the pressure, the plunger and buck will descend more or less rapidly owing to the weight ot said parts, and the ease by which they redisplace the fluid The plunger 7 and the buck 10 may be raised and lowered at any speed less lthan maximum by the operation of the valve 4, Which controls the by-pass. Furthermore, the pressure upon the garments may be mained even though the air pressure has been released, by closing the valve e in ad- Vance of the opening of the valve 1T, ior

reventingf` the fluid from being. ibi-ced ack into the chamber 21.

The plunger 7 requires lubrication. and this is supplied by an oil-cup. i8, which feeds the lubricant by gravity through a duct 18 in the top 2, and thence around the plunger via. a circular duct 18a. rlhe reciprocatable` movements of the plunger carry the lubricant upwardly to the packing d. :is weil as downwardly trom the duct t8".

My clothes pressing` machine is extremely simple. By mountingthe buck apen the vertically movable pedestal T, to which the pmsing power is directly applied, enables incase? me to carry o ut the pressing operations without appreciable loss of power, and by providing;- the stationary presser-head 12,v

and mounting saidhead upon the bracket which is supported by the main hydraulic cylinder, greatly simplifies, as well as cheapens, the construction, assembling and operation of the machine. rli`he foregoing novel features, when taken with the novel provision of the speed-controlling 'valve which is located in the by-pass, enables me to produce a machine that is more powerful, more economical, and contains less operating1 parts, than any other device of' the class known to me.

Having thus described my invention, what l claim, is-

l. The combination with a stationary presser-head and a movable pressing buck, of a hydraulic cylinder disposed beneath and supporting' said pressing parts, said cylinder being partially filled with fluid and having a concentric chamber in the line of the verl tical axis of said pressingparts, a pedestal directly supporting said buck and beingreciprocatable in said chamber, and means for admitting fluid pressure into said cylinder for effecting the raising of said pedestal and said buck.

2. A clothes pressing machine comprising1 a hydraulic cylinder adapt-ed to be partially filled with liquid and havingn an inner concentric chamber comuninicatingwith the cylinder by means of a by-pass, ,a valve in said by-pass adapted to regulate the flow olf the liquid between the cylinder and the chamber, a stationary presser-head supported by the cylinder above said chamber, a plunger reciprocatable in said chamber by the displacement et said liquid, and a pressing buck mounted on said plunger between the cylinder and said head and being movable relatively to said head.

3. ln a clothes ressing machine, a hydraulic cylinder a apted t-o be partially filled with duid, a plunger reciprocatable in an inner concentric chamber which communicates with said cylinder by means of a by-pass, means rfor admitting tiuid pressure for forcing said fluid from said cylinder into said chamber for raising said plunger, a pressing buck mounted apen and movable with said plunger, a stationary presser head supported by said cylinder in spaced relation tc `and in the path of the vertical movement ol said buck, and means for stopping; and for varyingr the speed et the reciprocatable nicvements ot the plunger and buck.

4t. A. clothes pressingniachine including a hydraulic cylinder adapted to be partially filled with liquid, and having a vertically arranged concentric chamber connected with the cylinder by a bypass, a stationary head supported by said cylinder above said chamber, a pressing buclr dis- 'alti Mil posed between said head and said cylinder and movable towards and away from said head,` a pedestal reciprocatable in said chamber by the alternate displacement of the said 5 liquid, said pedestal supporting and operatm said buck, and means for forcing said liquid from theV cylinder into said chamber for raising said pedestal and said buck, the said liquid adapted to be forced back into the cylinder by the downward movement of said l@ pedestal.

`In testimony whereof I aix my signature.

CHAS. LAVER 

